Taylor Swift ... yeah, and Ellen :-)

What more can you say except here's Ellen with Taylor Swift ... hilarious!

How 'bout those Dawgs, saving the world again. Go Dawgs!!!

The sky's the limit - University of Washington at it again!

Online gamers crack AIDS enzyme puzzle

Online gamers have achieved a feat beyond the realm of Second Life or Dungeons and Dragons: they have deciphered the structure of an enzyme of an AIDS-like virus that had thwarted scientists for a decade.

Photo by AFP

The exploit is published on Sunday in the journal Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, where -- exceptionally in scientific publishing -- both gamers and researchers are honoured as co-authors.
Their target was a monomeric protease enzyme, a cutting agent in the complex molecular tailoring of retroviruses, a family that includes HIV.
Figuring out the structure of proteins is vital for understanding the causes of many diseases and developing drugs to block them.
But a microscope gives only a flat image of what to the outsider looks like a plate of one-dimensional scrunched-up spaghetti. Pharmacologists, though, need a 3-D picture that "unfolds" the molecule and rotates it in order to reveal potential targets for drugs.
This is where Foldit comes in.
Developed in 2008 by the University of Washington, it is a fun-for-purpose video game in which gamers, divided into competing groups, compete to unfold chains of amino acids -- the building blocks of proteins -- using a set of online tools.
To the astonishment of the scientists, the gamers produced an accurate model of the enzyme in just three weeks.
Cracking the enzyme "provides new insights for the design of antiretroviral drugs," says the study, referring to the lifeline medication against the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
It is believed to be the first time that gamers have resolved a long-standing scientific problem.
"We wanted to see if human intuition could succeed where automated methods had failed," Firas Khatib of the university's biochemistry lab said in a press release. "The ingenuity of game players is a formidable force that, if properly directed, can be used to solve a wide range of scientific problems."
One of Foldit's creators, Seth Cooper, explained why gamers had succeeded where computers had failed.
"People have spatial reasoning skills, something computers are not yet good at," he said.
"Games provide a framework for bringing together the strengths of computers and humans. The results in this week's paper show that gaming, science and computation can be combined to make advances that were not possible before."

America's got talent ... these dummies prove it!

The world is full of dummies... To some of them - that's not an insult. This one loves to sing as well as some of Terry's other buddies. Terry Fator, one of the finest to ever emerge from "America's Got Talent" -- Here he is guest-starring last night...


Here he is from his own winning season of AGT...






And he is one of the reasons I could be convinced to go to Las Vegas ...


Terry Fator with Shawn from the audience performing Sonny & Cher's "I've Got You Babe"


And performing for MDA Telethon ...


Yes, America ... ventriloquism is alive and well.

God bless our troops and those that are taking care of them ...

The story is about Spc. Channing Moss, who was impaled by a live RPG during an ambush while on patrol. It gives meaning and substance to the term "Band of Brothers". Army protocol says that medivac choppers are never to carry anyone with a live round in him. Even knowing the risks, the flight crew flew him to the nearest aid station. There at the aid station protocol said that in such a case the patient is to be put in a sandbagged area, away from the surgical unit, given a shot of morphine and left to wait until others are treated or until the live round exploded -- whichever came first. Again, the medical team ignored the protocol.
For them, there was only one choice.

Here's a short video put together by the Military Times, which includes actual footage of the surgery where Dr. John Oh removed the live round with the help of volunteers and a member of the EOD (explosive ordinance disposal) team. Thanks to the brave men around him, Spc. Moss did survive that day and has since undergone six operations and is doing well at home in Gainesville, GA.

I think you'll find the video absolutely remarkable. (Warning ... some of the following footage is graphic)

                                                                                  Thanks to Military Times & to Suz

Dude, did you see that?

 

I can imagine the story this guy comes home with... really dude! This gnarly shark jumped right over me and my board when I was out there. He was trying for my head, dude, but I ducked down just in time. He was a man-eater! He was as long as my board. Really, you must have seen him, you were right next to me! How could you NOT have seen him ... Duuude!!!

Hopefully he saw the video on the net or TV .... See dude, yeah ... told you!!! Right over me!!! Well, they couldn't see what kind of shark he was from the shore, but they did see him jump me, dude!

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!

Thanks to Moms everywhere for their undying patience. Moms and kids alike should recognize at least parts of this video.



So get some rest ... tomorrow will be here before you know it!!!

PERFECT ....

Along the same theme as last post, and per a request from one of my readers, I am adding another song that has the same message ... YOU ARE PERFECT JUST THE WAY YOU ARE!
Remember, God makes no mistakes, and that includes you. Don't put yourself down, because you're putting down His perfect creation!